Living Downstream: A Scientist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment

Steingraber describes the complex Illinois terrain where she lives, which is made up of prairies, ridges, and rich soil. She admits that the state consists mainly of cropland but also calls attention to a remarkable story that lies beneath the visible: Glaciers that once covered the ancient Mississippi River Valley contributed to the rich soil of the plains and the flooding that occurs in many neighborhoods. The prairie tall grass is difficult to discern because advanced agricultural technology has manipulated the fields. The prairies are now tilled-over farm soil. Steingraber attends the Farm Progress Show each September since her family is still involved in farming. Watching soil being tilled connects her to her past.

Pesticide use in farming and the release of toxic materials in nonfarming industries have significantly increased in Illinois. In 1950, fewer than 10% of the state’s cornfields were treated with pesticides; in 2005, 98% were treated. The 1950s saw the introduction of atrazine, a pesticide known to cause birth defects in humans and breast cancer in rats; the peak of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), an insecticide first produced in the 1940s to combat insect-borne diseases; and an increase in polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), oily fluids used in pesticides, electrical transformers, and electronics parts.